I want to apologize for not updating in so long but life always seemed to get in the way. Well, I want to say that this is the last chapter of This Love but I promise you there will be a sequel. It will be shorter and is much more planned out than this arc. I realized I needed to take break from this story to write others but I'm back and I promise the story will be fully wrapped up soon. I also want to thank everyone who actually read this story. I hope you all enjoy the final chapter.

Again, I do NOT own any of these characters except Bridgette. Also, this chapter is based off the song "Nothing Lasts Forever" By Maroon 5.

Fear. Real fear washed over my entire body. I was going to die. Die in the hands of a man who used to pay me to baby-sit his kids. In front of people who were friends of my mother. My body was shaking uncontrollably and it felt as if my heart was going to leap out of my chest. This wasn't like that night in the bar. That night I felt fear but this time I could feel my life slipping away as his grip became tighter around my throat.

"You fucking bitch. " He spat. I began to squirm trying to get him off of me. I don't want to die. I don't want my last thing to be him. I want my brothers and sister to be with me. Jenny, Tommy, Jimmy, and Sean. I wanted Kevin to be with me. Kevin. His name screamed in my mind. If I die I don't want him to get hurt. I want him to move on, to love someone else, and to forget me. No what am I saying? I'm way too young to die. This isn't fair. I began to fight harder. I started to kick but I was getting lightheaded and everything was started to fade. I thought I was imagining things when I heard a car pull up. It was all in my imagination.

"Let her go." A husky voice said. The hands loosened and my vision was becoming clearer. I began to take deep shallow breaths. Oxygen finally got to my brain and I could see whose voice that was. Nicky Cottero was getting out of his car and so was Vinny.

"Nicky, I didn't know you took such interest in one of the Donnelly's…" He looked at me. "whores." He spat. Nicky advanced towards.

"If I was you Earl, I wouldn't be messing with the girl who holds all the power." Earl pulled away from me and Vinny grabbed my forearm, dragging me away. I didn't have the strength to pull away. He put me in the backseat and I instantly laid my head back taking deep breaths. Vinny joined me in the front seat.

"You got lucky there, sweetheart. If we hadn't been passing, you could've gotten hurt." That was an understatement. If Earl was left to his own devices I would have died. I looked straight trying to read the lips of Nicky. I guess I lost more oxygen then I thought because they weren't making sense. Nicky then turned around and walked toward the car. I was waiting for a gun shot but only the sound of the motor running underneath me. When he made in the car and it started to pull away from the lounge I finally sighed in relief. All of us were safe. For now at least. Nicky stayed silent and I couldn't form the words to thank him. He didn't need to save me and I didn't need to feel thankful that he was still alive. To the Donnelly's he was just an associate that could be replaced. He defiantly was going to regarded higher(in my book at least) for saving my life.

"I'm going to take you to my club for now. You should call someone to pick you up there." Nicky finally said about fifteen minutes into our drive.

"Thank you, Nicky." My voice sounded rough. Like I had a sore throat. Nicky just turned in his seat real quick and nodded. He turned back around and I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket. I dialed the only number I wanted to call. It rang only once.

"Bridgette, I'm sorry I left your house. Jimmy needed me. I'll be back in an hour. I'll talk to you then." Kevin said rushed. I could hear a few groans and Jimmy's voice.

"Kevin, put the goddamn phone and help me." There was a pause. "Sean hold him! Damn it, Sean. Kevin!" Jimmy was obviously picking up another bet. It wasn't going to well.

"Kevin, please listen. I…" My voice pleading. I could feel myself on the verge of tears. I needed him so badly at the moment. I needed him to come pick me up and tell me everything was going to be ok. For him to just hold me.

"Bridgette, I love you. See you soon." The phone line went dead. I felt a tear slid down my cheek. I pushed it away quickly. I would see him soon enough. I was lucky enough to have that. I began to dial another number. It rang only once, again.

"Bridgette?" Tommy said sleepily.

"I'm really sorry, Tommy. I didn't mean to wake you. I need your help." I couldn't mask the worry in my tone. I knew Tommy was going to react.

"What happened?" Tommy's voice sounded alert and nervous.

"Earl. Just come to Nicky's bar. My car is at the diner." I hung up the phone. That's all Tommy needed to know at this point. I would explain when he got to the bar.

The car suddenly came to a halt and Vinny jumped out of the car. He opened my door and helped me out. The both quickly walked into the bar and they dragged me with them. The bar was empty except for some punk chick stocking the bar. She just glared at me and continued.

"Casey, get her a whisky." Nicky said. The girl did as she was told and passed it to me. I nodded to Nicky and shot it down. The harshness of the drink felt good against my dry throat. Nicky smiled at me as I put it down.

"I know how you Irish like that." I nodded and looked out the window waiting for all hell to break loose.

I could hear a screech of tires and a door slam. Tommy was here and he was worried. The door to the bar swung open and Tommy ran towards me.

"What the hell happened?" He said breathless. He stood a foot away from me waiting for my answer. I just threw myself against him and burying my face into his chest. Dry broken sobs began to come from me. Tommy just wrapped his arms around me and petted my hair. "It's ok, Bridgette. You're fine." He paused for a moment before he spoke again. "What the hell happened to her?"

"Earl. He tried to strangle her." He said bluntly. Tommy's body tensed and he pushed me back a little. He stared at my neck and his fingers swayed over my neck. I flinched and that didn't help his anger. He moved away from me. I wiped my eyes and looked at Tommy. His eyes were glassy again. That worried me.

"Bridgette, do you think you could drive home?" I nodded. He had to talk to Nicky. I knew that. He passed me my keys and put them in my hands and closed my palm. "Be careful." He said. I smiled weakly and went to my car not knowing what I was going to do with myself.

My house was silent with sun warming the inside. A beautiful hot August day. I could hear the children outside screaming and running in the streets like we once had done. It was like that anymore. Now I can't walk down the street without someone wanting to kill me. Tommy was right. I was bargaining chip and I was being stupid for getting myself involved but I couldn't just back out now. It was too late. I threw my bag across the hallway and ran to my couch. I jumped on it and slammed my face against the pillow. I wanted to cry, to feel some sort of release but I couldn't. My body wouldn't let me. I sighed and crawled into the fetal position. I heard my door open and I leaned up to look. I could see the mass of curly hair walking through.

"Kevin…" I breathed. He looked over and smiled at me. He shut the door and came over.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here. Jimmy really needed-" I jumped up on the couch and kissed him. I could feel his resistance but I just wrapped my arms around his neck and continued. He finally kissed me back and he pulled me off the couch and I wrapped my legs around his waist. He fell back down to the couch with me still wrapped around him. He pulled away from my lips and started to trail kisses down my neck. I started to fell a shooting pain on my neck. I bit down hard on my lips to keep from screaming. I pulled away slightly to start kissing him on the lips again. Kevin stared to pull at my top when I could hear banging on the door.

"Bebe!" Jimmy screamed. Kevin and I both looked toward the doorway. I looked back at Kevin on top of me.

"I swear to god I'll break this door down." I sighed and pushed Kevin off. I fixed my hair and walked to the door. I latched it and opened it slightly.

"What do you want, Jimmy?" He glared at me while Joey behind him smiled weakly. Oh god, they knew. I closed the door and unhinged the lock and opened it fully.

"What did he do to you?" Jimmy growled. I sighed and just let my eyes fall to the floor. "Well?" He growled again. I looked up back at him.

"Tommy is taking care of it." I said looking over at Kevin who threw his arm around me. He looked confused as hell.

"Did you know that Earl choked her?" I cringed as I felt Kevin's body stiffen. Jimmy knew so why the hell did he have to ask me what happened? Kevin let his hand slid from mine. "Earl, is going to get what is coming to him." Jimmy looked at Kevin ad stormed out. Joey walked slightly towards me.

"Are you ok?" I nodded and he smiled weakly again. He then ran after Jimmy.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Kevin said silently. I turned to stand right in front of him and I put my palms against his face.

"I was going too just not at the moment. I need you and I knew you would freak out." He put his hands on my wrist and pulled my hands away. He let them go and just looked at me.

"I need to go." He was cold and there was fire in his eyes. He wanted Earl's head on a platter as much as I did but Kevin could do something about it. I couldn't. He went to walk away but I grabbed his hand.

"Don't, I'm begging you. Tommy is taking care of this." He stared at me more coldly than before.

"No, Bebe." He turned and walked towards the door. I thought of the only thing I could.

"You walk out now and we are over." I said cruelly. Kevin stopped but didn't turn around. He sighed and closed the door behind him. I just fell to the floor realizing the weight of the day. Everything was over for me and a whole new life was beginning. One I never wanted. I crawled over to my bag and grabbed out my cell phone. I found the number I wanted and called. The person answered after two rings.

"Hello?"

"I need to see you. Can you come by my place?" I stared at the closed door wondering when the hell it would open again and I would get my life back.

*****************

"It's about time." I said exhausted, pulling open the door. When I opened the door my eyes grew wide. Jenny was standing there with messy hair and a long coat. In her eyes she was distant. It looked as if she couldn't even see me.

"Jen?" I said breaking her from her trance. She finally looked me in the eye and opened her coat. Her medium sized belly and her whole chest was caked with blood over her white shirt and jeans. Blood, as if someone spilled a whole blood bag on her. I reacted instantly.

"The baby?" I said touching her stomach. She shook her head. I breathed a sigh of relief and threw my around her pulling her into the house. I locked the door and looked back at her. Her eyes became dazed again. I pressed my arm against her waist and started to pull her up the upstairs to the bathroom. I pushed open the door and sat Jenny on the toilet bowl. I pulled back the shower curtain and turned on the shower. I tested the water and it was perfect. I turned back to Jenny and she was still looking straight ahead of her. I kneeled down in front of her and started to unbutton her blouse. She just stared at me. No hint of recognition in her eyes. I stood her up and tugged down her jeans. I walked with her into the shower. I threw some shampoo into my hand and massaged into her hair. She turned and looked at me. Finally, realizing who I was. She fell into me sobbing. Her body was shaking and I just did what I could. I held her until she needed me to pull away.

Jenny finally washed up and I gave her some clothes. When she came downstairs I knew she wanted to tell me what happened so I waited with tea for her in the kitchen.

"Tommy." I jumped up terrified that it was Tommy's blood. Jen's eyes shot to me. "No, he's fine." I sat down calming myself. I reached my hand across the table to grasp hers.

"What happened?" She took a deep breath and started her story.

"I shut everything down and went upstairs but when I got there I wasn't alone. This man was standing in my room. Just standing there waiting. I grabbed the bat I had in the hallway and waited for him to come at me. He did and he knocked me down. I could have swore he was going to kill me and the baby." She was rubbing her belly absentmindedly. "Than Tommy came and he grabbed a knife from the kitchen and just kept stabbing him. I've never seen Tommy so brutal." She stopped speaking and looked away. She never had seen Tommy kill someone or be that gruesome. I have. I looked at Jen. Her focus was on her belly. She looked up at me. "I'm here because I need you to help me leave." I did a double take.

"What?" I said staring at her. She of all people could never leave this place.

"Bridgette, I need you to get me out of here. I need you to not have anyone find me." I sipped down my tea burning my tongue. I was so shocked by Jenny wanting to do this.

"Jen, if you go you can't come back and think everything is erased." I know that from personal experience. She nodded and stood up.

"I'm doing this for my child and I need your help." She looked my straight in the eye. "Are you going to help me?" I took a deep breath.

"I'm going with you. There is no way in hell I'm not helping you through this." Jenny sat down and drank her tea. I knew right than she fully thought this through.

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I started packing the car with all of our stuff. Just putting in whatever I could.

"Bridgette?" A smooth Irish accent called out. I turned from throwing in my emergency duffel bag. I stared straight into his blue orbs and I realized he was dangerously close to me. I backed up a little. Those old chills he gave me were gone and now he was just making me uncomfortable.

"Caleb, I called you to apologize for my actions the other day." His eyes flickered to the trunk. I turned and shut it.

"Going somewhere?" His voice sounding uneasy. He ignored my apology. I jumped up on the trunk, swinging my legs off of it.

"I'm going away for a while." A smile tugged at his lips.

"Ireland?" I shook my head and his smile fell. He leaned next to me waiting for me to explain myself.

"I don't know where I'm going at the moment." It was the truth. I haven't gotten the call I need to no where the hell I'm going.

"Why did you call me, Bridgette?" I wish I could feel the same way he felt about me.

"When I called I need some sort of normalcy. Some comfort from an outside source. I needed that until my best friend came to me for help. Than I knew normalcy was never something I was going to achieve."

"Why can't you?" Their was so much innocence in his voice I wanted to cry.

"It's just not who I am, Caleb. You fell in love with the broken part of me. The one who tried to be normal. Caleb, I'm sorry for everything I put you through but it's really over. It never even began." I leaned over to him and kissed him on the lips for a light kiss. When I pulled away he just nodded to me and walked away. I knew from that it was the last time I would ever see him and it was the last time I would ever have any normalcy.

Jenny came down the stairs locking the door behind her.

"Are you ready?" She asked me. I should be asking her that. I was accustomed to running away.

"Yes, I am." Jenny came down and threw the rest of her stuff in the backseat. I jumped in the car than she followed. We both looked at each other for a long moment. "Jen, this is your last chance to change your mind." She just turned to look out the window.

"Drive." She whispered and I could hear the hint of tears in her eyes. I did as I was told and pressed my foot on the gas going to where I knew we would be safe.

The drive was smooth as we drove past the city lights and into a world unknown to both of us. Jenny fell asleep quickly. I think it was for the best. She needed all the rest she could get. I just drove on reminding myself that I was doing the best I could for Jenny and her baby. Even for me and even for Kevin. We were too fucked up to ever have anything other then pain. I didn't want that for him or myself. I sighed as my cell phone began to ring. I didn't even have to look at the caller id. I opened it and pressed the phone up to my ear.

"Bridgette, is Jenny with you?" Tommy sounded concerned. I looked over to a sleeping Jenny.

"Yeah, she is here." I could here Tommy crying on the other side.

"Where are you guys?" I bit down on my lip.

"Tommy, we left." I said slowly as possible.

"You what?" He sounded confused and anxious.

"We are gone. Jenny and I are moving away for a while." I said in a normal tone.

"Bebe, you can't be serious." Disbelief, Jenny would never do this to him. He didn't understand how much it hurt her to even think about running away.

"Tommy, I just want you to know that Jenny and I love you. We love all of you and can you do me a favor. Tell Kevin to move on and I love him."

"Bebe, wait…" I threw my cell phone out of the moving car. That was for all I knew that would be last time I would hear Tommy's voice. It would be the last time for a lot of things was all I could think. It didn't help with the pain deep in the pit of my stomach. Knowing it would end. Everything would end. I looked over at Jenny beside me and looked at her growing Belly. That baby was the only thing would go on and I knew right them I had to protect that child. I pressed my foot on the gas going a tiny bit faster to the place we would be safe.

Thank you all for reading!

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